Ash-gate hopper



May 13, 1930.

.F. H. DUNBAR I 1,758,435

ASH GATE HOPPER Filed Aug. 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l gluon 1km WHQMM F. H. DUNBAR 1,758,435

ASH GATE HOPPER Filed Aug. 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 term of usefulness.

Patented May 13, 1%.?59

earner assist siren erases FRANK H. DUNBAR, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE ALLEN-SHERMAN-EOFF COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, -A

CORPORATION GE PENNSYLVANIA ASH-GATE HOPPER Application filed August 25, 1924.

This invention relates to a furnace bot tom, hopper, or the like. It particularly relates to a furnace bottom, or the like, subjected to high temperatures and used to receive ashes, or other hot material.

It is an object of this invention to provide a furnace bottom, or the like, which will be durable and efficient under the severe conditionsto which it is subjected in use.

Another object is to provide a furnace bottom which may be readily and economically constructed.

Other objects will hereinafter appear.

The invention contemplates a furnace bottom, or the like, having means for maintaining it at a sufficiently low temperature to prevent rapid deterioration and thus prolong its The invention will be better understood from a description of one practical embodiment applied to an ash hopper and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view partly in section of an ash hopper;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same showing part of one end in section.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation taken at right angles to Fig. 2.

Fig. 4: is a vertical section through a hopper as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, but showing, in addition, part of the furnace wall and supporting means therefor.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the bottom of the furnace or the hopper 1 is formed by a plurality of walls inclining toward one or more discharge openings 2. The hopper walls are supported by the beams 3 and cross beams 41, as shown in Fig. 4, and if, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4, a plurality of discharge openings are provided in one hopper, the adjacent inclined walls between the openings are supported upon the intermediate cross beam 5. In order to carry the inclined walls of the hopper upon the structural framework of the building, suitable flanged or angle supporting bars 6 are secured at their upper ends to the beams, cross beams, or intermediate cross beams, as the case may be, and their lower ends carry a horizontally disposed gate frame 7 which Serial No. 734,031.

surrounds'and forms the discharge opening. The side walls of the hopper usually taper or converge to the discharge opening or openings which are generally relatively small. However the invention 1S not only applicable to such hoppers but may be applied to hoppers of any shape. Also, throughout the specification and claims where I have used the terms hopper or ash hopper it is to be understood that this is intended to apply to any receptacle, such as a furnace bottom, that is, the bottom of a combustion chamber of a powdered fuel furnace, or any other farnace, or construction in which the receptacle i a masonry supporting base frame 9, rectangular in form and having its top Wall inclined downwardly toward its outer edge to receive the base course of the masonry lining wall.

Secured to the supporting bars 6 are liner plates 10 which cooperate therewith to form the shell of the furnace. The liner plates are preferably angle plates having one flange resting on the bars 6 and the other flange projecting atsubstantially right angles, and these flanges support a row of hollow tile 11, preferably of standard size and shape. Through out substantially the entire height of the walls such hollow tile are laid end to end in substantially horizontal rows, so that substantially horizontal air passages 12 are formed to extend all the way around the hopper. As shown, the inner lining of the walls may consist of a suitable layer of heatinsulation 13 disposed adjacent to the rows of tile 11 and a masonry lining of refractory material 14, such as refractory brick, blocks and the like. i

It is to be understood, however, that the layer of heat insulation may be omitted and a thin layer of refractory material used so that the heat from the inside of the hopper will more quickly pass into the hollow tile and be carried away by the air current. The construction, therefore, depends upon the conditions and circumstances encountered and the results desired.

Portions of the outer walls of the tile in each of the rows may be cut away to provide openings 20 and 21. for entrance and discharge of air, and these portions are preferably located at opposite sides of the hopper.

.The openings 20 for the entrance of air may 7 be supplied, if desired, with a suitable inlet pipe 22, though this is not necessary and may be omitted. Preferably the openings 21 for discharge of the air are connected by the pipe 23, so that the heated air which comes from the hopper may be utilized in the'furnace or for any other desired purpose. The air may be drawn or forced through the passages in the walls of the hopper in any well known manner, such for example as a suction or blowingfan (not shown).

Preferably hollow ventilating members 15 are laid on top of beams 3 and cross beams f to prevent excessive heating thereof and consequent warping and deformation. The hollow ventilating members mounted upon the beams may be formed of any suitable material, such for example as cast iron, and the ends of these members 15 adjacent the hopper may be connected to hollow vertical members 16 which have their bottom portions open outwardly to the air beneath the upper flanges of the beam. The members 15, 16 may be cast integrally or otherwise formed and connected together. A similar construction may be provided for the cross beams l.

The intermediate cross beams 5 will be kept from being excessively heated by reason of the fact that tile 11 are disposed in the inclined walls overlying them and these are connected with the inlet and outlet passages so that a flow of air passes therethrough to conduct heat away.

It will be apparent that I have provided a simple and durable heat insulating construction which doesnot require specialskill on the part of the builder, that the hopper walls may be effectively cooled by the air currents through the passageways surrounding the hopper, and that the heat of the material in the hopper dissipated through the walls thereof may be utilized to preheat air for use in furnaces or for other purposes. It will also be seen that I have done away with the necessity for heavy, expensive, insulating walls of refractory material.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular forms of apparatus shown and described, and the particular procedure set forth, are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and that various modifications of said apparatus and procedure can be made without departing from my invention as defined in the appended claims.

l/VhatT claim is:

1. A furnace hopper comprising a metallic outer shell, an intermediate lining supported thereby and having horizontally disposed ventilating passages, and an inner refractory lining supported by said intermediate lining.

2. A furnace hopper comprising a metallic frame, metal plates carried thereby forming an outer shell, a lining having horizontally disposed ventilating passages carried by said shell, and an interior refractory lining carried by said hollow lining.

3. A furnace hopper comprising a metallic frame including a gate frame surrounding the discharge opening thereof, superposed substantially horizontal courses of hollow tile carried by said frame and forming substantially horizontally extending air passages, the passages having inlet openings at one side of the hopper and discharge openings at another side thereof.

at. A hopper suspended from floor beams, horizontal ventilated passages in the hopper walls, ventilated spacers carried on the tops of the beams, and furnace walls supported on said spacers.

5. In a furnace, a beam supporting a suspended hopper and furnace wall, and a ventilated spacer interposed between the beam and wall.

6. A beam for supporting a wall, a spacer carried on said beam and having a ventilating passage open at one side below the top of the beam, and at the other side above the top of the beam, and a. wall supported on said spacer.

7. In combination, a beam, a horizontally disposed plate carried thereby and spaced thereabove by depending projections on the plate, depending flange along one edge of said plate extending below the top surface of the beam, and a wall supported upon the top of said plate.

8. A furnace hopper comprising a shell, spacing means supported thereby, a refractory lining associated with the spacing means, the spacing means forming horizontally extending cooling fluid passages between the lining and shell, and means for effecting circulation of fluid through the pas sages.

9. A furnace hopper comprising a shell having inwardly projecting flanges, spacing means within the shell supported by the flanges and forming a plurality of substantially horizontally extending passages, and a refractory lining adjacent the spacing means.

7 In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

FRANK H. DUNBAR. 

